Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus, an imprint method, and a method of manufacturing an article.
Description of the Related Art
An imprint apparatus which molds an imprint material on a substrate using a mold is attracting attention as one of mass-production lithography apparatuses such as semiconductor devices. The imprint apparatus includes a plurality of nozzles which discharge droplets of the imprint material toward the substrate. The imprint apparatus supplies the imprint material onto the substrate by controlling discharge of droplets from respective nozzles according to a predetermined droplet arrangement pattern on the substrate.
In the imprint apparatus, the residual film of the pattern of the imprint material molded by the mold is preferably uniform. The residual film indicates the thickness of the imprint material between the substrate and the concave portions of a three-dimensional pattern formed by the imprint material (or a pattern formed by curing the imprint material). Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-228619 proposes a method of, when molding an imprint material using a mold on which a line pattern is formed, improving the uniformity of the residual film of the imprint material molded by the mold. When the imprint material and the mold on which the line pattern is formed are brought into contact with each other, the speeds at which the imprint material spreads in the longitudinal direction and widthwise direction of the line pattern are different from each other, thereby impairing the uniformity of the residual film of the imprint material. According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-228619, the uniformity of the residual film of the imprint material is improved by making the interval between droplets of the imprint material supplied onto the substrate smaller in the widthwise direction of the line pattern than in the longitudinal direction of the line pattern.
In the imprint apparatus, when molding the imprint material using a mold including a plurality of portions with different pattern arrangements, it is preferable to change the arrangement of droplets of the imprint material supplied onto the substrate in accordance with the pattern arrangement of each portion of the mold. In this case, if the arrangements of droplets in two adjacent portions among the plurality of portions of the mold are different, the amount of the imprint material deviates from a necessary amount in the boundary portion between the two portions, and thus the residual film of the imprint material molded by the mold may become nonuniform.